Terminology

Anchorage - a way of ‘tying down meaning’, without anchorage meaning could be polysemic – open to various interpretations, EG. a caption anchors meaning to a photo, music anchors mood in a film

Audience - a key aspect of Media Studies – how audiences are identified, created and addressed and how audiences access, interpret and respond to texts

Auteur - a film director whose films show a personal vision or style

Avant gardeA- innovative, experimental work which breaks main stream conventions

Binary oppositions - the theory that you cannot understand good if you don’t understand evil, eg heroes and villains

Cliff hanger - an ending that creates suspense, often used in a ‘soap’ to make the audience watch the next episode

Climax - the point in the narrative where conflicts/enigmas are resolved

Closure - the completion of a narrative in a classic narrative, eg the happy ending in which the hero defeats the villain

Connotation - the meaning associated with a sign, eg a red rose could be associated with love

Denotation - he description of a sign, eg the dictionary definition

Convention - established ways of treating genre, codes, narrative or representations

Decoding - the processes by which media audiences interpret meaning in a media text

Dietetic sound - the sound that actually comes from the set or studio like dialogue, not added later like music to set mood

Non-Diegetic sound - sound that does not come from the set/location, usually added in editing , eg theme music, voice-over

Encoding - the process by which media producers construct meanings in a text

Enigma - a question posed in a text

Film noir - type of film made in the 1940s and 1950s which used low- key lighting, shadows etc to reflect the dark side of human nature

Genre - a set of conventions or common practices which guide the production, marketing, identification and interpretation of texts 

Ideologies - shared beliefs and values in any social group (see dominant and oppositional ideologies)

Intertextuality - links between texts, eg genre, stars, subject matter, spin- offs

Mise-en-scene - whatever happens in the frame, ie characters, set, props etc

Narrative inigma - Leaving something out to give a sense of Mystery

Preferred reading - the idea that texts contain messages which support mainstream ideology, ie how the maker wants the audience to read the text

Propaganda - texts which use emphasis and selection to try to persuade the audience of a particular view point

Resolution - the outcome of a narrative conflict

Serif font - typeface whose characters have short strokes at the ends, eg Times (used to connote tradition and to aid readability)

 Sans-serif font- typeface whose characters do not have strokes at the end, eg Arial (used to connote modernity)

Semantics - the study of the meanings of signs and codes (as is studied in Language)

Signifier - the physical form of the sign, eg BBC

Stereotype - representations of people, places or events in an instantly recognisable way, eg Scots with red hair wearing kilts

Target audience - the main group or groups of individuals at whom the product is aimed

Semiotics - What make a film, EG. music, camera shots, lighting 

Analysing conventions to the opening of a film

What to look for when analysing the opening of a film

Conventions:

When analysing the opening of a film you have to look at every detail. The mise-en-scene, costume and characters.

 The opening will usually have dietetic music playing whist you are being introduced to the bigger picture. 

• The opening shot. The semiotics are generally revealing something about the film. The extreme long shot is generally the most common.
• Semiotic analysis - what they didn't involve. Usually the main character = narrative inigima.
• Consider the sound. The diegetic or non - diegetic.
• The music can be aimed at a certain audience.

• Titles and the style of the titles.
• Serif or sans-serif. 
• Serif if it has little bits coming off. Fancy. Rom-Com generally use Serif.
• Sans-serif is very straight forward. Usually in a drama or seriousness.
• The colour and font. Which person named twice - director or company.
• Difference in size for different roles in the film and time they are up on the screen. Where they are on the screen.

• Exposition what information are we getting and what information are we not getting. Narrative. How much exposition has been provided.

• The length of the opening sequence. 
• Specifically how does it end and transition into the next section of the film, cross fade, simple cut, does the music continue.

• Characters.
• Who. When. Where. Why.
• Antagonus or protagunous. 
• What editing techniques are used to follow the characters - Tracking, close ups or privileging their audio over others.

• Costume. 
• Are we getting the genre signified.
• Verisimilitude. Need to give clear direction on what to take time on. Organisation of taking cafe of cast and film.
• Mis-en-scene is the main part. 
• Setting, location. Is it multiple or clearly on one place.
• Representation. Particularly of age, gender and nationality. Very important for the target audience in mind.

• Genre signifiers.
• Ancourage.
• Sound/music.
• Audio bridge - possibly old fashioned.
• Fade in and fade out.
• Intertextuality - are there signifiers of other TV and films. Meaning of one text is linked to another text. Increase awareness of the film. Audience know what is happening - widen appeal to secondary audience. E.g. If the primary audience was 15-24 involved quotes to older films brings in a secondary audience. Older.
• False scare. Think the boyfriend is the killer. Boyfriend is playing around - "Damion you little devil". Reference from the omen.

• Cinematography - camera work, shot types and movement.
• Editing. Special effects. Linear and non linear. 
• Is there a voice over.